NHS cervical cancer home-testing kits offered to women who have missed cervical screening
From today, the NHS is starting to roll out the new self-testing kits to encourage more women to complete their potentially lifesaving screening to detect human papillomavirus (HPV), which can increase the risk of cervical cancer.
This is the next major step the NHS is taking in its pledge to eliminate cervical cancer by 2040, by making it as easy as possible for people to get the lifesaving HPV vaccination and increasing cervical screening attendance.
Over the next year, nearly four million eligible women will receive invites on the NHS App or via text message, email or letter to order a free kit to use at home.
Figures show around a third of women who are eligible for cervical cancer screening have not taken up the offer recently.
The self-testing kits are designed to get more women checked for high-risk HPV virus, which causes nearly all cases of cervical cancer.
Cervical screening helps prevent cervical cancer by checking for high-risk types of HPV. It is a common virus that can cause changes to cells in the cervix. These changes can usually be treated before cancer develops.
If high-risk HPV is found, individuals will be invited to book a follow-up cervical screening appointment at their GP surgery or sexual health clinic, where a nurse or doctor will take a small sample from the cervix to check for cell changes.
You can find out more on the NHS England website by clicking on the pink button below.
